Borough to vote on ordinance addressing transparency in awarding contractsThe Kodiak Island Borough Assembly heard from borough attorney Cheryl Brooking about attorney-client privilege during its Thursday night work session. In its meeting this week, the assembly is scheduled to vote on an ordinance addressing transparency when awarding borough contracts. The ordinance does not specifically address a controversial 2012 contract with Kodiak Construction Services. Assemblyman Mel Stephens...

Port and Harbor board recommends increase in shipyard ratesThe Kodiak Port and Harbor Advisory Board plans to put the Kodiak Shipyard finances back into the black with several years of rate increases. On Friday, the board voted to recommend a 40 percent increase in shipyard rates and lay days in the first year of changes and an additional 20 percent increase the second year changes are put into effect. The rate increases must be approved by the Kodiak City Council before ...

No estimate on when Kulluk will be movedSurvey crews have completed their work aboard and beneath the Royal Dutch Shell PLC drilling rig Kulluk, but there is still no estimate on when the wayward rig might move from Kiliuda Bay. With Tanner crab season set to open Tuesday, focus has shifted to ensuring recovery of the formerly grounded rig won’t interfere with fishing, said spokeswoman Rochelle Touchard. While the rig is in a portion of Kiliuda closed t...

Kodiak has best commute in United StatesA new analysis of data collected during a 2011 U.S. Census Bureau survey has found Kodiak has the best commute of any city in the United States. G. Scott Thomas, a Buffalo, N.Y.-based blogger for bizjournals.com, broke down the data collected by the Census Bureau and found 73.5 percent of Kodiak residents have a commute of 14 minutes or less between work and home. Pierre, S.D. was the No. 2 city on the census list...

Man accused of stealing gunA Kodiak man accused of stealing a handgun was arrested after he allegedly posted photos of himself with the gun on Facebook. Johnny Ray Cortez Jr., 26, was arraigned in Kodiak district court on Wednesday on one charge of second-degree theft, a class C felony. According to court documents, the gun’s owner was out of town in Anchorage from Sept. 25 to Sept. 27, and he found his handgun missing when he returned. The...

Woman sentenced in Trident embezzlement schemeA Kodiak woman has been sentenced to four months in prison for her role in a scheme that embezzled almost $500,000 from Trident Seafoods. On Wednesday, U.S. Attorney Karen Loeffler announced that Jaime Fathke, 29, was sentenced for two counts of wire fraud. Fathke cashed three fraudulent Trident checks totaling $30,000. Fathke was one of five people facing charges. Isairis Wolfe, Jeremy Smith, both from Kodiak, Va...

City council asks businesses for more sales tax informationThe Kodiak City Council unanimously approved a change to Kodiak's sales tax forms as it seeks to gather additional data to judge the effectiveness of the city's sales tax cap. The vote was the highlight of a light Thursday night meeting for the city council. The measure adds a section to the quarterly sales tax forms filled out by every Kodiak business. That section requires businesses to list the number of transa...

Fishing boat suffers minor damage in groundingA 56-foot Cordova-based fishing boat was towed to Kodiak on Thursday after running aground and puncturing its hull on Raspberry Island. According to the Coast Guard, the Neptune, homeported in Cordova and owned by China B Fisheries Inc., sent a distress call about 1:30 a.m. Thursday reporting it had grounded on the southern side of Raspberry Island and was taking on water. An Air Station Kodiak MH-60 Jayhawk helic...

Lightly attended Kulluk community meeting no 'Exxon Valdez' sequelIt was nothing like the Exxon Valdez. Fewer than 50 Kodiakans turned out to the Kodiak High School Commons Wednesday night for a remarkably quiet community meeting about the Royal Dutch Shell PLC drilling rig Kulluk, now moored in Kiliuda Bay after being pulled from Sitkalidak Island. Since the Kulluk ran aground on New Year's Eve after slipping its tow lines, the rig has been remarkable more for what it hasn't br...

Kodiak Safeway remains open to nonprofitsKodiak’s Safeway grocery store will not be closing its doors to nonprofits after all. In an internal memo earlier this month, Safeway announced a policy shift that prohibits most nonprofit organizations from using Safeway as a place to hold bake sales or sell raffle tickets. On Wednesday, Sara Osborne, the director of public affairs and governmental relations for Safeway’s northwest region, clarified that the poli...